Adrian Nicolie, a teacher in southern Romania, complained about the working conditions.

"We can't teach on a salary of 1,100 lei a month. We can't teach when many colleagues aren't paid for commuting and we can't teach with 35 students in a classroom or even 40 in kindergartens," he said.

Teachers also marched toward the presidential Cotroceni Palace in west Bucharest. President Klaus Iohannis is himself a former physics professor.

Labor Minister Dragos Pislaru suggested the protest was politically motivated ahead of the June 5 local elections.